Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Guy P. Fallen, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG), José A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CID), and James K. Loftus, Director, Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), announced unsealing of a seven-count indictment charging defendant Marvince Milfort, 23, of North Miami, in connection with a tax refund scheme in which he used stolen social security and other personal identifying information to file false online tax returns. These fraudulent tax returns resulted in the issuance of numerous tax refunds by the IRS.

More specifically, Milfort was charged with four counts of identity theft, one count of theft of public money, one count of aggravated identity theft, and one count of access device fraud. If convicted on the theft of public money or on the access device fraud counts, the defendant faces a maximum statutory sentence of up to ten years in prison. If convicted on the identity theft counts, Milfort faces a maximum statutory sentence of up to five years in prison on each count. If convicted on the aggravated identity theft count, Milfort faces a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years in prison.

According to the allegations in the indictment and in-court statements, between September 2011 and February 2012, Milfort used stolen SSA documents containing personal identification information of SSA applicants, including names, dates of birth, social security numbers, and other sensitive personal information, to electronically file federal income tax returns in the names of the identity theft victims using a Turbo Tax program. In this way, Milfort claimed IRS tax refunds to which he was not entitled. To execute the scheme, Milfort directed the IRS to direct deposit the refunds onto Green Dot or other reloadable debit cards (debit cards). Upon receipt of the loaded debit cards, Milfort would allegedly convert the funds to cash or use the debit cards to make purchases at local retailers.

According to statements made in court, during the execution of a search warrant at Milfort’s previous residence, agents and detectives seized laptop computers and notebooks containing more than 200 names and other personal identifying information of unsuspecting identity theft victims. In addition, the agents found more than 500 stolen SSA documents, dental patient lists containing sensitive personal identifying information, more than 100 debit cards, and $24,480 in cash contained within a safe.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the SSA-OIG, IRS-CID, and the Miami-Dade Police Department. This case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Anton.

An indictment is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.